Nebraska Lt. Gov. Rick Sheehy resigned Saturday morning, effective immediately. Gov. Dave Heinman announced Sheehy’s resignation in a hastily called news conference Saturday morning.

Although Heineman said only that the resignation followed disclosures made in a public records request, multiple media outlets reported that it involved improper personal calls on his state-issued cell phone.

The Omaha World-Herald, which had filed the public records requests, says he used the phone to make about 2,000 late-night telephone calls to women other than his wife, Connie. She filed for a divorce last July after nearly 29 years, stating that the marriage was “irretrievably broken.”

One of the women who received the calls from Sheehy is  Bellevue emergency room doctor Dr Theresa Hatcher, who told The Associated Press they had a long-term relationship and that he’d told her they would marry one day.

Hatcher said she thought she “was the only one” for Sheehy, whom she’d met at an out-of-state  gathering of emergency responders in 2008.  The lieutenant governor heads the state’s emergency management efforts. His phone records show he talked to Hatcher on his state phone  367 times, mostly from 2009 through 2011.

The 53-year old Hatcher described driving to motels in towns Sheehy was visiting and long, sexually charged phone calls when he was on the road and unable to meet her.  She said Sheehy broke off their relationship in spring 2011, but that they went through several reconciliations and break-ups before ending things for good last June…a month before Sheeny’s wife made her divorce filing.

The governor told reporters at the news conference he became aware of “new information” about Sheehy’s “decisions” this week, had a conversation with him, and accepted his resignation Saturday morning.

“I have trusted him and that trust was broken,” he said.  “As public officials we’re held to a higher standard, rightly so. That trust was broken and he resigned.” Heineman called the situation one of the biggest disappointments in his life, saying that it left him with a knot in his stomach.

The governor’s office is investigating whether Sheehy will need to reimburse the state for the questioned phone calls, but Heineman said he “can’t imagine” that Attorney General Jon Bruning would decide to pursue that course.

Heineman says he plans to begin the search to replace Sheehy on Monday and plans to appoint a new lieutenant governor in the coming weeks. If something where to happen to Heineman before then, Speaker of the Legislature Greg Adams would become governor.

The 53-year-old Sheehy, a former Hastings mayor, was Heineman’s pick as Lt Governor in 2005 after Heineman left that post to become governor when Mike Johanns resigned to become Secretary of Agriculture for President George Bush.

He won election twice as Heineman’s running mate and was considered the overwhelming favorite to succeed him in next year’s governor’s race…earning his endorsement early last year. Heineman now says he would no longer support Sheehy if he continues his campaign.

Sheehy’s resignation and its obvious impact on the governor’s race drew a not-unexpected response from Nebraska Democratic Party Chairman Vince Powers.

Powers said it demonstrates that “when party has too much power for too long, corruption, arrogance and scandal occur.” He rhetorically asks “what other scandals are waiting to be uncovered?”, and predicts “the people of Nebraska will elect a Democrat as governor in 2014 to clean up the statehouse.”

     The 12th Judicial District Nominating Commission has sent the names of attorneys Larry Miller of Alliance and Paul Wess of Chadron to Governor Dave Heineman to fill the county judgeship left vacant by the retirement of Charles Plantz 13 months ago.

The 12th District covers the 11 Panhandle counties plus Grant County. The  governor can reject both names, but almost never does, and usually interviews those recommended either in person or by phone before making his choice.

Five attorneys had applied for the judgeship: Miller, Wess, Stacy Nossaman-Petitt of Scottsbluff, Audrey Elliot of Gering, and Mark Raffety of Omaha.

The Nominating Commission…4 attorneys and 4 lay members, all from the Panhandle…made its recommendation in Alliance following a public hearing Friday morning at which the applicants were able to make their cases and answer questions from the panelists.

Each was given 10-minutes for their presentations, including any supporting or opposing comments from the public, but the only member of the public to speak was Alliance attorney James Moravic, who supported Miller.

The applicants were called based on the order of their applications being received, with Larry Miller going first. He discussed his 28 years as an attorney…which include both partnerships and a long stint as the fulltime Alliance city attorney…his family, and his long residency in Alliance…where the judgeship will be.

Moravic praised Miller’s work as attorney…both for the roughly 7 years they’d been in partnership before Miller went to work for the city and while he was city attorney. Moravic said Miller had a “very strong moral compass.’

Audrey Elliot…the youngest of the 5 and less than 7 years out of law school…said considered herself very experienced in multiple phases of the law despite her age thanks to her years in the Scotts Bluff County Attorney’s office and as the part-time city attorney for Lyman.

Mark Raffety told the commission he’d become very familiar with and fell in love with the Panhandle and Sandhills while spending several years representing the Nebraska Department of Roads in condemnation cases as part of the Attorney General’s office. An attorney for 22 years, Raffety said he also had extensive experience in criminal, juvenile, and probate cases.

Paul Wess cited the experience he’s gain in criminal, juvenile, and Indian Child Welfare Act cases during what is now his third term as Dawes County Public Defender and as a contract public defender in Sheridan County.

Wess said the court system can and should make greater use of technology…a priority in recent years of State Chief Justice Mike Heavican. Asked if he would move to Alliance if appointed, Wess said not unless obviously necessary for the smooth functioning of the system, explaining that he lives about a third of the way between Chadron and Alliance

Stacy Nossaman-Petitt said she also would not move to Alliance right away if named judge unless necessary because of the disruption it would cause for her 11-year old daughter.

Nossaman-Petitt 20 years of legal experience covers not only criminal and juvenile cases, but also bankruptcy law. She’s been the federal Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee for the region since 1999, and she told the Nominating Commission she felt that experience has helped her prepare for a seat on the bench.

Nebraska Judicial Resources Commission did not decide to fill the 12th District seat for nearly a full year after Plantz retired, putting off a decision while considering a proposal to move the judgeship to the juvenile court in Omaha and shift Sheridan and Grant counties into the 8th Judicial District.

A 4-month trial of having a judge from Valentine come to Sheridan County to hold court once a week was deemed an overwhelming failure by all involved, leading a divided commission in early December to officially declare the seat should remain in the 12th District and be filled.

Cheyenne County District Judge Derek Weimer says prosecutors can file amended 1st-degree murder charges against a Sidney man that would qualify him for the death penalty if convicted

53 year old Larry Martinez of Sidney is accused in the shooting death last July 15th of 30-year-old Mandy Kershman, also of Sidney.

Weimer’s ruling allows Cheyenne County Attorney Paul Schaub to add a “notice of aggravation” to the murder charge that would allow the jury and a 3-judge panel…if Martinez is convicted…to determine if the death penalty should be applied.

Nebraska law includes a list of aggravating circumstances that can qualify a murder conviction for death. The one included by Schaub in his new filing against Martinez is a “substantial prior history of serious assaultive or terrorizing criminal activity including a previous conviction.”

Martinez is accused of confronting Kershman in a Sidney home, then shooting her because he was mad about a text message she’d reportedly sent him. He will be arraigned on the revised murder charge next Thursday. He’s also charged with felony use of a firearm.